The Other Road Home
by Breathesgirl
Summary: Thanx to treewitch703 for the better Title! One tiny event went different in the Dallas FOtS church. Let's follow along and see where the journey takes us. TISSUE ALERT! There be sadness ahead!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Here it is lovely readers! A new story!**

**It's eleven chapters plus an epilogue.**

**I just want to say that I enjoy the reviews and constructive criticism I get as well as the story and author favourites.**

**I hope you enjoy this one, especially since it truly is a Godric/Sookie story.**

**Starts at the point where Eric is trying to talk his way past the so called guards at the FoTS church in Dallas.**

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"Stake!" Sookie managed to shout as the so called guard was sneaking up behind her current escort through the madness. He managed to turn and disarm his attacker thus leaving his back open, allowing another to put his stake through his heart, ending Eric's millennium long existence in the blink of an eye.

She heard a howl of pain as she ran forward, tears in her eyes, "how could you! He wasn't here to hurt you! He was here to rescue his Maker and his sister! He had been commanded to shed no blood!" She knelt down in the midst of his ashes, sobbing uncontrollably, hands over her face.

She felt hands on her shoulders, gentle hands, but she tried to fight them anyway, "it's Godric." He sounded so sad, in pain. She looked at him as he sank down beside her, tears staining his cheeks and linen top. They cried together at the loss of the one they had loved unconditionally.

Rough hands grabbed them, pulled them to their feet, uncaring that they were in mourning for one they had loved.

They were marched into the sanctuary to face their accusers, the ones trying to say they had done wrong. They were silvered back to back in front of the room full of fanatics, the most rabid of them, Steve Newlin, standing directly beside them forcing them to turn their heads to the extreme in order to see him.

She could feel Godric vibrating with his grief, longing to verbalize it, to hold the one sent to rescue him, to comfort her, to share stories of his long, long life with her. She could smell his bloody tears. She longed to hold him, have him hold her. She managed to find one of his hands with one of hers and twined their fingers together, giving what comfort she could with the small gesture. She could feel his thumb rubbing against hers, offering his own small comfort.

Finally Newlin decided to pipe up in that nasally, twangy voice that grated on her nerves, damning them! Godric because he was a vampire, Sookie because she consorted with vampires.

"How can you damn us! It was not Godric that tried to rape me in YOUR basement! It was not Eric who put all these bruises on my body! It was not a vampire who gave me broken ribs or ripped my dress! It was HUMANS! Those beings with beating hearts and lungs that breathe! Vampires have been nicer to me in the few months I've known them than humans have in my 25 years of human life! If you want to damn somebody damn yourselves!

God loves all his creatures! He sees even the smallest sparrow fall from the sky just as he sees the horrors humans commit on HIS earth! Vampires have done nothing wrong!

There is good in vampires just as there is good in humans. There is bad in vampires just as there is in humans. Vampires are just more forthright about it. They will tell you they are going to kill you then do it! Humans will tell you that you're their friend to your face then put that stake through your heart as soon as you turn your back then claim the devil made them do it!

Yeah, they need us to survive but think about it! We could survive together! How many of us have ever had trouble opening a pickle jar?" She heard a few titters through the crowd. "How about cleaning cobwebs from the corners high up?" She heard a few amens. "How about someone who can track a lost child? Someone who doesn't need scuba gear for underwater rescues?" Some were actually leaving the sanctuary now, under their own power, leaving with something new to think about. Maybe they weren't all pro vampire but they certainly weren't filled with hate!

"People!" Mr. Twangy Nasal voice was speaking now, "Don't listen to her! They're all murderers! They murdered my family!"

Someone from the crowd shouted, "and what are you planning Mr. Newlin? To invite them for a midnight picnic?"

"I am planning retribution!"

Another voice in the crowd, "then have your retribution against the ones who actually did the killing! Leave the innocent alone!"

There was a soft pffft sound and Newlin went down, hand to his head. When he looked at it it was covered in...orange paint? Another pffft, this time his cheek was covered in yellow paint! "You let my sister go! She ain't wronged you! All she did, well I don't know what she did but I do know she wouldn't have done anything to hurt you! Moron!"

Newlin stayed where he was, glaring at the newly reformed, and reformed again, Jason Stackhouse.

At this point the Dallas vampires finally made an appearance, Stan bellowing to kill them all.

Bill finally made an appearance as well, "Sookeh! What have you done now?"

_What have I done now? Surely he isn't serious? _

"NO! There will be no more bloodshed here tonight! There has been enough with the true death of my child. Enough is enough! Let us go Newlin and there will be no retribution. Her attacker is dead, rightfully so. Your group is the only one who has shed unnecessary blood here tonight, let it be enough." Godric, even with the true death of his child, he was talking not about retribution but about living in harmony together.

"It will never be enough until all the damned are sent to hell where they belong!"

"You are planning to go there yourself then?" Another follower.

"Of course not! The good Lord says an eye for an eye!"

"Those were rules for magistrates! Not for personal vendetta!

If you were truly a God fearing Christian you would have let the law deal with those who killed your father instead of taking it upon yourself." With those words most of the rest of his followers filed out to go home to a hot breakfast and a warm bed. There were a few die hards left, and Jason.

"Let. My. Sister. GO! or the next round will be a real gun with a real bullet!"

Newlin stayed where he was. "Godric, is there any way to get your vampires to hold the few remaining so Jason can come down here and unchain us?" she whispered. He gave a barely perceptible nod and the few remaining were suddenly held back by bands of steel, vampires. Newlin himself was being restrained by Stan who had one of the most eerily scary smiles on his face she thought she had ever seen. Bill was beside her now, hand on her face, a faraway look in his eyes and gone just as suddenly leaving her bewildered.

"Jason, get your ass down here and unchain us!" He was there as quickly as humanly possible. He tried to be gentle with the chains on Godric but they were stuck to his skin so skin and blood were coming off each time a piece of chain on exposed skin was removed. She took over once she could wiggle out of her chains and ripped the rest off Godric as quickly as she could.

Godric turned to Newlin and caught his gaze, "It is possible to coexist peacefully but not with hate mongers such as yourself. You will go to the police and report your part in this, how one of your kind killed my child, how one of your minions beat up a helpless young woman, how she was nearly defiled, how he was killed by me in order to spare her life. They can find both myself and the young woman in my suite at the hotel."

Steve Newlin finally got up off the floor, nodded, and walked away to do as bidden. Those from the congregation who were being held were finally released by the ones holding them and chose to walk away.

"Young one, what is your name?"

"Sookie."

"We must leave if I am to beat the sun."

"Of course Godric!

Jason, I'll catch up with you later?"

"Yeah sis. Just call me."

She gave him a hug, "I will Jason. We've got a ton to talk about, not the least of which is just what in the world you were doing here in the first place!

Okay Godric, let's go."

He led them not to the doors to the outside but back into the main building, to the spot of his child's last stand. Understanding what it was he was wanting, needing, to do she searched the offices until she found an old, clean coffee cup. When she returned she helped him scoop up Eric's ashes and place them in the cup, tears staining both their cheeks as they worked at their task. She left and came back again, this time with a piece of paper and a rubber band to put over the mouth of the cup to keep his ashes from blowing away.

Her adrenaline was starting to wear off. Her eyes were closing of their own accord where she stood. She felt the pain coursing through her body like it had just happened instead of being several hours in the past. She whimpered as she felt herself being lifted, fresh air, the wind ruffling her hair as she held tight to the cup with what was left of Eric.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you all for the wonderful reviews and favourites!**

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She woke the next night to a clean body, tangled hair and a bladder that was screaming for relief!

When she hobbled out of the bathroom Godric was there in the chair by the bed. His grief was palpable. She placed a hand on his shoulder, "I am sorry Godric."

"Thank you Sookie. How did it happen?"

"There were men with stakes guarding the door. He was trying to talk our way through when someone came up behind him. He heard my warning and turned to stop him but one of the others staked him when he turned.

How are you? How is Pam?"

"I will be fine once the pain subsides.

Pam is distraught but she will be fine with time."

"I'm glad."

Her stomach chose that moment to rumble loudly causing her to blush slightly.

"How long has it been since you ate?" he asked.

She shrugged and winced at the pain, "since the morning of the day we went to the Fellowship, I guess."

"I will order food for you then while you clean up." She nodded, grateful for the thought.

When she bent to get clothes from her suitcase it dawned on her, "who's room am I in and where is Bill?"

"You are in my suite at Hotel Carmilla.

If Bill is the young, dark haired vampire you were staying with here in the hotel he dropped off your bag and left a note for you." She took the proffered note and Godric left the room to order her food and give her a modicum of privacy.

_Sookie:_

_My Maker has called me to her. Do not call, do not write. I can do nothing about this. Enjoy your life, may it be long and profitable._

_Yours,_

_William Compton_

He had left her? Only a note as explanation?

Surely there was something he could do about it? Something she could do? Eric had said something about her not being able to understand...

She was crying yet again. Was any man worth as many tears as she had shed over, and about, him since they met?

The water of the shower felt heavenly and it helped wash away any traces of the tears she had shamelessly shed over a man.

Her food was waiting for her when she emerged. To her rumbling stomach it smelled like she imagined heaven would smell like.

It was as delicious as it smelled!

"Godric, can you answer a question for me please?"

"If I know the answer I will answer so ask your question."

"The last conversation Eric and I had he told me not to speak about things which I knew nothing about. I had asked him if you were his Maker. What is the bond between a Maker and child like? What's so different between a Maker/child relationship and a parent/child relationship?"

"Those are big questions Sookie but I will see if I can answer them for you.

Eric was right in that you can't know what a Maker/child bond is like because there is nothing like it in the mortal world. It is how a Maker controls his or her child in the beginning. We can stop them with a command. We can have them do things, which they may not wish to do, with a simple command. We can punish our child with the bond, we can call them to us. We can read their emotions and feelings, some of us can even communicate telepathically with our children, and they with us.

What's so different is that a human parent really has no control over their child. They can tell the child not to touch the flame but the child will still be able to unless the parent either puts out the flame or physically removes the child from the flame. When a Maker commands their child not to touch the flame they physically can not touch it no matter how hard they try to do so.

Why do you ask these questions?"

"The note Bill left said that his Maker had called him to her, that there was nothing he could do about it. I was just wondering how true that was."

"Had he been released by his Maker?"

She shrugged, "I don't know. He never talked about her, he didn't introduce us. He never really talked much about vampires and their world unless he had to give me information, even then it was the bare minimum he could get away with."

"If he has been released then he had the choice of whether to follow her command or not. If he had not been released then he had no choice, he would have had to go with her.

Now it's time for me to ask a question.

How did you know my Eric?"

"I didn't know him very well.

I guess you could say we had a working relationship."

He smiled at her to encourage her to continue, "I first met him when I had Bill take me to his bar so I could ask some questions of the vampires there. Women in my home town were being murdered and our local police wouldn't have checked the obvious place to check to get their answers. Since my brother was accused of these murders I wanted to help him clear his name.

Shoot! I need to call Jason! May I use the phone please?"

"Of course Sookie." He left the room to give her some privacy.

"Jason! I just got up, how about lunch tomorrow?"

"Sure Sook, I just got up too. I'm heading down to the restaurant now, you want anything?"

"No thanks, I've got room service sitting in front of me now."

"Okay, call me when you get up tomorrow then."

"I will Jase. Thanks for last night! You were totally awesome with that paintball gun!"

"Thanks sis. They're the ones who taught me how to use it although the marksmanship was all me!"

"I know. I can remember watching you at target practice in the backyard when we were kids. You almost always hit where you were aiming."

"You ain't too bad a shot yourself ya know!"

"Not nearly as good as you though.

Anyway, I have a couple of things to do tonight so I'll see you tomorrow afternoon."

"Sure thing. Night Sook."

"Night Jase."

She put her cart in the hallway for room service to retrieve and went in search of Godric.

He was in the shower so she sat in the living room to wait for him, thoughts forming about everything that had happened over the last few days.

It hurt that Bill had just dropped her and hadn't tried to explain why. It did hurt but she found that she was more distraught over Eric's final death, truth be told. Why was that?

She thought back to the first time she had seen him. He had been sitting on his throne, fingers steepled, looking deadly and sexy at the same time. She had been attracted to him but things with Bill were just getting started so she wanted to give that relationship a chance and now that Bill had gone with his Maker she didn't have that chance!

Eric had been kind to her. In fact he had been kinder to her than most of the humans she knew, even after she told him about being a telepath. He hadn't doubted her although he had tested her. Maybe the difference was that she couldn't hear him, except that once, so he had no reason to fear her? Did Eric fear anything? She was sure he did, everyone had at least one fear.

Double entendres and innuendos aside he had been kind to her, even had the doctor called, and arranged for the blood, after the maenad attack. He had even agreed to hand any humans who had done anything wrong over to the human authorities after she read them for him.

She was startled from her reverie, "Sookie?" She looked up at him and tried to smile through the tears that were falling, unnoticed until then but it just wasn't in her.

"Godric."

"Why are you crying?"

"I was just thinking about Eric. I only knew him for a short time, worked for him a few times, but what I saw I liked.

When I met him I was with Bill but I was attracted to him immediately. I wish I had the chance to know him now."

"We must meet with Nan Flannigan soon but I will tell you of his young years afterwards if you like."

"I think I would like that, very much.

Why do we have to meet with Ms. Flannigan?"

"So she can try to make the public think last night didn't happen the way it did. So we don't go after the Fellowship for revenge. Who really knows with her.

I will give you some advice about dealing with her though. Speak only when spoken to and only answer the question, don't embellish, don't offer information. Just sit there and look pretty. I will protect you the best I am able, as will my nest."

"Why would I need protection though?"

"You are a beautiful young woman who works for, and willingly spends time with, vampires. Any vampire would think themselves lucky to have you on their arm.

You are currently unattached to a vampire. With Bill's leaving without you and not telling you where or making arrangements for you to meet up with him it means he no longer has a claim over you, he can no longer make decisions on your behalf, his claim can no longer protect you."

She could feel her temper rising. Godric had done nothing to earn her wrath, he was just telling her what was going to happen and what could happen.

"Godric, I realize we haven't known each other long at all but there is something you need to know about me, two something's really. One is that I'm a telepath that can't read vampire's. The other is that I really, REALLY hate being thought of as property. Some of the worst arguments I had with Bill were about his claiming me, telling everyone I was his."

"You are a telepath?"

"I am."

"We will discuss this later then, we must get to the meeting.

One last thing before we leave. Would you object to at least smelling like me for the evening? It would help keep the other vampires away from you."

"Would I have to drink your blood?"

"That would be the best way but there are others which are not as long lasting but they aren't as sure as having some of my blood."

"What are the other options?"

He smiled at her and winked, "we could have sex but, alas, we don't have the time." Her face turned crimson almost immediately. "I could rub some of my blood on some of your worst bruises which would heal them almost instantly and you would smell like me or you could just give me a hug which would transfer my scent to you and yours to me."

"I like you Godric but I'm not ready to drink your blood, or anybody else's, right now.

How about you heal some of my bruises AND I give you a hug?"

"That would be fine." He pricked his finger with a fang and rubbed the blood over the bruises on her neck and wrists. When she gave him the hug he got to smell her. Sunshine! Honey! and something which was tickling the back of his memory. He would have to think on it later. "Are you ready then?" She nodded so they left to go back to the nest for their meeting.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I am loving the favourites and comments both here and wordpress! Thank you all soooooooooooo much! This is a big part of why I write fanfic: the reviews make me feel good. Like a chocolate high, only better since there are no calories! lmao**

**I am looking for a beta. More for flow and ideas than spelling and grammar since I take care of that myself. I know my stories could be better and I want to make them so but I need help in order to make them do so. Please, PM me if you are interested.**

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Nan Flannigan was a BITCH! All capital letters! Sookie had to give it to her though, she was no nonsense and didn't take anybody's shit, it didn't matter who you were! Maybe she should model herself after her? Take no shit or prisoners, leave them quaking in their boots as they ate her dust? Wasn't BITCH an acronym for something? Sookie couldn't remember, in the moment, but she vowed to look it up when she got home.

Godric managed to keep his position as Sheriff since he had glamoured Newlin into confessing to what he really had planned although it was a close thing since he had offered himself in the first place. She already had a copy of Newlin's signed confession. He had even admitted to having already sent the ones who caused his parent's deaths on to their true deaths!

Sookie even got a word of praise from the woman whom everyone had seen on television, associated her as the face of the Mainstream Movement, the one who was so hard to please and seemed to love the word war between her and Steve Newlin. She requested that Sookie be seen with her at the next public appearance which would be the next night in Washington DC! Sookie turned her down though. She just wanted to go home and back to her quiet, relatively speaking, life in backwoods Louisiana. Turning her down was not an easy decision though. The woman was ruthless and could be very...persuasive but in the end she accepted Sookie's decision although she did promise to hound her until she agreed. Truth be told Sookie was tempted and promised she would think about future appearances.

Finally the meeting was over. She could relax! She managed to find an empty room so she could be by herself for a few minutes. It was in her solitude that she heard the thought, one all encompassing thought! KILL! KILL THEM ALL!

She was out of that room like a shot, aches and pains be damned, "EVERYONE DOWN!" Without question each and every vampire present was down on the floor, dragging nearby humans down with them. She reached the room just as the bomb went off, throwing her back down the hallway, further away from the blast. She hit the wall and blacked out. The next thing she remembered was hearing people talking from down the hall. When her vision returned she was lying under dust and debris but unable to free herself.

"Godric!" she was barely able to choke out. She started coughing, causing the pain from before to amplify making her wonder what else she had damaged.

Someone was running down the hall now, skidding to a stop beside her. "Sookie?"

"Yes," she coughed out.

"Are you more injured?"

"I think so Godric. I hurt everywhere. I don't even know what's a new injury and what's an old one!" She was wheezing now, finding it harder and harder to breathe.

He removed the debris pinning her and stood there assessing her damage. It didn't look good.

"Sookie, one of your lungs has been punctured by at least one broken rib, your spine is broken and your spleen will rupture if we try to move you.

What will you have me do?

I can give you blood to heal. It will take quite a bit, more than a mouthful or two, and you will heal but spinal injuries are not a sure thing. You may regain the use of your legs, you may not. You will require enough blood that there is the risk I might turn you unintentionally.

I can give you enough to hold you until emergency crews arrive but there is no guarantee you will heal completely or I can turn you on purpose and with your consent. We could also leave you as you are and wait for rescue workers but you may just drown in your own blood before they arrive.

The choice is yours but you don't have much time to decide."

It was painful but she sighed. It always seemed to be a life or death situation when it came to her and the ingestion of vampire blood. Just once she would like to make the decision when her life, or death, didn't hang in the balance.

"Godric, you will be a good Maker?"

He smiled down at her, even with the pain she must be in she was still weighing her options like she had all the time in the world. "The best."

"I will make a good vampire?"

"You will. You seem to have the makings of a first rate vampire."

"You will still tell me about Eric?"

"I will tell you the stories as we lay together in your grave and any time you wish to hear them afterwards."

"Then turn me Godric."

"It will hurt when I lift you child but I will have us quickly in my chambers to do as you requested."

She nodded then screamed in agony as he lifted her broken body from the floor to carry her to his chambers so he could drain her and feed her in private.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you treewtich703! Much better title!**

**Thank you for ALL the wonderful reviews! I know there have been those hoping I'll finish this one. There is only one I haven't finished and I'm hoping the muse for that one will return at some point. This story IS complete on my computer. I just update, usually once a week, so that I have time to work on other stories. Besides, with reading the reviews and having the completed story handy, I have a chance to make any suggested, and plausible, changes without damaging the story or having to go back and rewrite things.**

**Most of this chapter is written in italics because it is Godric's memories of Eric as he's telling them to Sookie. SO much better than quotation marks sometimes!**

**Yes, as someone pointed out on my wordpress: Godric's first punishment of Eric is mean. He's trying to teach his very stubborn child a lesson. He doesn't want to harm him, only teach him. I think the punishment fits the crime quite beautifully :).**

**Once again: Thank you all!  
**

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They were in the ground for barely ten minutes now. He was telling her the story of how he had chosen Eric, as he had promised.

_Even back then he was a mighty warrior. It seemed like none could get close to him because his reach was so long. Someone did manage though. It had been a long battle. Many days long. They were all tired and wanted to go home to their wives and children but for him it was not to be._

_He was stabbed in the stomach with a sword. Medicine wasn't what it is now. He would have died quite painfully after several days of agony. His followers had built his bier and placed him upon it, ready to set it alight once his light left the world._

_For me it was the work of only a few moments to kill his comrades so I could get to him. _

_I knelt over him, like I knelt over you. _

_He had heard the skirmish as I took his fellows and sent them on to Valhalla. "Do it, kill me. All I ask is that you light the fire, send me out in a blaze as it should be," he said._

_I asked him if he would be made like me, if he would wear the moniker of death with me. It was an easy decision for him, he didn't ask the questions, he simply told me yes. I drained him and fed him my blood. I dug our grave far from the battlefield and lay with him for the three nights it took for his transformation to complete._

_Even newly risen he was magnificent! Even covered in dirt, blood and gore he was the most handsome man I had ever seen, even to the day of his final death I had never met one to rival him._

He could feel the sun rising but he continued on with another story.

_I will now tell you the story of his first punishment. It is one you can learn from if you can hear me. No matter, I will tell it as often as you wish to hear it._

_He wasn't yet a month vampire but he was very stubborn. He thought he could do what he wanted, that he could out stubborn his Maker._

_He learned that night that it would never happen._

_I had told him, taught him, reminded him several times a night that humans were to be left alive if at all possible. If we kept draining them eventually there would be none left for us to feed from and we would all either go mad from being forced to animal blood or we would meet the sun to end the torture of no food source._

_Eric, my very stubborn child, learned his Maker was more stubborn. He was commanded to keep a human pet for a full turning of the moon. He was forbidden to feed from his pet, he was forbidden to have sex with his pet. He was to make sure the pet was fed, clothed, housed and cared for during the day while he was dead. During that time, and for quite some time after, he was commanded to only feed when I was with him and he was commanded to have no sex unless I was present._

_I think even as a human his libido had no bounds for he was insatiable sexually. He was ready to go again almost as soon as he had finished! He asked, he begged, he pleaded every night of his punishment to be allowed to have sex, to be allowed to even masturbate for relief. I allowed it once at the midpoint of his punishment._

_At the end of the month the pet went home, glamoured to the hilt, but he went home to his family. Eric was raring to go, to have more adventures because having a pet then meant you were severely restricted in where you could go and what you could do. If a vampire function allowed humans at all they were to be glamoured the whole time and leashed to their Master in order to avoid problems._

_Since he was only allowed to attend functions that allowed pets his mobility became severely limited since we lived in a part of the world that rarely allowed pets, glamoured or not, to attend. During that month there was only one function that allowed pets as long as they were heavily glamoured, leashed and at their Master's side the entire time they were there._

_I glamoured him myself since Eric's wasn't strong enough yet to last for the length of time required. That was also the only night I allowed him to have sex. He was ecstatic until he realized that even though he could have sex, and as much as he desired, he could not orgasm. There is not much point to sex without orgasm for a vampire since it only increases the desire. It took once and, even though I had told him he could have as much sex as he wanted, he opted to forgo the pleasure since it would only end up frustrating him further._

_Once he escorted his pet home and returned to me he knelt before me and thanked me for punishing him! That has not happened since!_

_It is time for me to go to my death my child. More stories tonight._


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: You, my readers, are TOTALLY awesome! I love you guys and gals!**

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The next night was more of the same, stories of his Eric in his younger days.

_Your brother loved a good fight! I have always believed that he was born with a sword in his hands, fought his way out of the womb with it. _He gave a soft chuckle. _It didn't take much to provoke him into an attack back then. His temper was short and his memory long. If, by chance, someone managed to escape his wrath he remembered it. If he chanced upon them again his justice was swift since his sword was never far from his hand._

_He was a sight to behold in his first battle as a vampire. He was only a few months old when I took on a contract to help then vampire King of Poland in what is now known as the Thirteen Years' War to help the Prussians gain independence from the Teutonic State._

_Eric seemed to be everywhere at once, his sword and body dancing with the enemy. He took down many receiving hardly a scratch._

_He had trained from boyhood with his sword so he knew how to wield it. I will teach you to wield one once you have learned to control some of your more base instincts._

_Over the years he learned how to use other blades, other weapons, but never was he as glorious as he was with the sword his father had gifted him with._

_He could strategize with the best of them. He could see the battlefield in his mind, picture all the different players and where they might be at any given time and make plans to cover the different scenarios._

He smiled sadly remembering his son, his first child as either human or vampire.

_What else would you like to hear my child? There are many stories about your brother both before and after I released him._

_I don't know if you knew it or not but Eric could fly, as can I. The night he discovered that he could gave us both a good laugh over the years._

_When we could we would practice his skills at evading others, how to hide his tracks so it would be more difficult for anyone tracking him to follow. This night I had given him an hour's head start and given him the meeting point. I had been following his tracks for several hours when I flushed him from his hiding spot. He hadn't been expecting it since he hadn't been listening for me, believing himself to be safe for the moment. I scared him so badly that he jumped, only instead of jumping and coming back down, he ended up hovering about five feet off the ground. When I rose to meet him he took off higher, above the treetops, and shot off toward the horizon. He wasn't a match for me but I let him believe he was for a short while. Finally I caught up with him. The look on his face when he couldn't figure out how to land was the real source of amusement, at least for me. I'm sure you can picture the look of befuddlement. Finally I told him how to land. After several tries he succeeded. It didn't take many days before he was quite proficient in flight. Over the years he taught himself to wield his sword in flight._

_I thought he was magnificent when he danced with his sword on the ground! It was nothing to how he was in flight! He was a blur when fighting in the air. He was second to none even to the day he met his true death._

Godric stopped for a time, letting the tears reign for a while. He hadn't had much time to mourn the loss of his eldest child and he wouldn't have much time once Sookie rose for she would be demanding all of his attention for quite some time to come, as it should be.

_One last story for tonight then you will rise tomorrow night._

_I released Eric when he was much older than the norm. Most progeny are released at slightly more than a century. Your brother never did anything the way most did, he didn't follow the herd, neither do I actually. I released him when he was 300. He stayed with me by choice for another two hundred years, coming and going however the wind blew him but always returning to his Maker's side before very long, until he decided to come to America. _

_He always claimed that the reason he made Pam was because she asked him to, even slit her own wrists to hurry along his decision. I think it was because he was lonely. He had been here off and on for close to four hundred years when he met her in an alley and saved her from an attacker. He visited her several times. He was Sheriff in San Francisco in the early 1900's and helped her with a problem she'd been having with some of her ladies of the night being killed. He banished the vampires from his area. The next night she offered herself to him. The night she rose was the happiest I had felt him since I released him. I believe he loved her just as much as she loves him although neither would ever admit it to the other._

He was silent then, thinking over his long life, reliving Eric's rising and other marked events in their long lives together.


	6. Chapter 6

**_A/N: Thank you so much! Your reviews are awesome! I love that you folks are loving this story! If I could each and every one of you would be getting a big ole hug from me! Probably Sookie too!_**

**_Enjoy the chapter. There are five regular chapters and the epilogue to go before I start posting another story._**

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Tonight you rise my child. I find I am anxious to see you as a vampire. Will you be as magnificent as you were in human form?

What abilities will you have?

Will your telepathy survive?

Will you wish to tell your family and friends that you are still here, only changed? You can if you wish, the choice is yours. The Revelation at least did that for vampires, it has allowed those turned since then to remain a part of their former life, if only for the length of their humans remaining years.

He could feel the rigour loosening its grip. She would rise soon.

A few more minutes and her body started shaking. He could feel her pain as the rigour let go, as her body reanimated for the first time. He could feel her tears as they landed on his arm which she had used as her pillow. He felt the bond burst open, all her confusion poured into him, slowly changing to wonder, overwhelming hunger and happiness.

He tightened his grip on her and felt her hands tighten over his arms. He slowly loosened his grip to allow her the freedom to dig her way out of her grave when she was ready. Almost immediately her hands went up and started pushing the dirt out of her way, steadily working toward the surface.

Soon she was in the cool night air and examining her body, looking for any remaining injuries. There were none, everything had been healed by her Maker's blood during her transformation. She looked up at him and smiled. She opened her mouth to say something when her attention was caught by a wayward scent. She smiled wider, fangs extended, and took off in search of the scent, following it back to its source: a woman sitting on her front porch, enjoying the cooler temperatures September brought to Dallas and most of the South.

He could feel her hunger as if it were his own but he knew different. He came up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders, startling the woman. "Sookie, yes, you must feed. If the woman is willing you may, if not we will find someone else.

Are you willing?" The woman nodded, afraid to do anything else. "My child thanks you, as do I.

Sookie, are you listening?"

She nodded absently, aware he had spoken but not really paying attention. The woman had all of her attention. The blood rushing through her veins was so tempting! She tried to take a step forward, to claim what was hers but she could not because her Maker wouldn't let her. Her attention was still on the woman. There was nothing which could cause her attention to waiver.

Finally he stepped between the two, blocking her view of the woman. Her eyes flickered to his face for a moment, long enough for him to know he had her attention for a moment. "Sookie, you must listen to me so I can tell you how to feed." She nodded, giving him a little more attention now but the scent still had most of it. Finally he picked her up and sped away from the woman to where Sookie couldn't smell her. She was crying now, hitting him, trying to get free so she could get back to her first meal of her undead life.

Eventually she calmed. When she did she felt most ashamed of herself and hung her head as he sat her back on the ground. "Sookie, look at me." She didn't lift her head but he knew he had her attention. "It seems feeding won't be your first lesson, it will be obedience instead.

You asked me the difference between a Maker/child bond and a human parent/child relationship. This is the difference."

She felt as if a large rubber band was placed under her chin as he said, "look at me Sookie." Her head snapped up and her eyes fixed solely on him. There was no way she could have not looked at him even if she had bothered trying.

"Much better. I like to look those I am speaking with in the eye when we talk.

I need to instruct you on how to feed. Then, and only then, will you be allowed to. Do you understand?"

She nodded, "I understand Godric."

"Good." He continued on with telling her how to feed, to monitor the heartbeat and everything else involved in feeding from a human. "Let's go see if the woman is still on her porch." She was, she had been too afraid to do anything else.

Once Sookie had her first taste of blood that was all she could focus on until she had had her fill. They had to hunt to find more humans but hunt they did. He knew there was no way she could have been paying attention to his instructions but he taught her as they went anyway. She might pick up something which would make it easier to teach her later.

Finally she had her fill, for the moment anyway. She did have trouble concentrating on any one thing for very long so her first lessons took only a few minutes, until she felt the need to feed again. Over and over again it was hunt and feed, hunt and feed, a few lessons, round and round until they finally made it back to where they began, the place where she rose for the first time that night.

She finally got a look at the outside of the house. The backyard smelled of sunshine and honeysuckle, causing her to smile. "This was Eric's favourite of my houses because he enjoyed the smell of honeysuckle so much. This is normally where he would stay when he came to visit."

"I have a feeling it will be one of my favourites as well. I can smell the sunshine. I can feel it radiating off the ground, warming me a little bit."

"I have another way for you to warm up if you wish. We both need a shower and those warm vampires up wonderfully."

That had her attention as nothing other than blood had the entire night. A shower! Warmth! Clean! She started nodding her head vigorously causing him to laugh. "Very well then, let's go find the shower."

She sped off into the house looking behind every door until she found the room she was looking for and what a shower it was! It was large enough to fit four Eric's and still have room left over for a couple of humans as well! "Godric! It's huge! Ten of me, at least, could fit in there!"

"Yes, Eric loved his space. He had such a large frame, and a large personality to match, that it was difficult to squeeze him into a coffin to travel." The mood, which had been light just a moment before, suddenly wasn't so light.

"I didn't know him well. We had barely had conversation and most of those I was angry at him for some something or other but I still miss him. He had such a large presence it sometimes felt like he was watching me all the way from Shreveport, an hour away from where I live."

"The dawn is coming Sookie, if you don't want to go to bed dirty you need to get in the shower."

She stood there looking at him, arms crossed, foot tapping on the marble floor tiles, waiting for? Something.

Finally she spoke up, "Godric, a little privacy please?"

He was startled by her sense of modesty. He hadn't been present for the rising of present day vampires.

"I'm sorry. Of course. I will leave you to your shower while I retrieve your bag for you. Remember, you can't take too long, dawn is in only fifteen minutes."

The shower WAS heavenly! She even took a few minutes to turn on the rain head and lay on the floor beneath it, imagining it was a warm spring rain falling on her.

Reluctantly she ended her shower, feeling the nearness of the dawn more distinctly than anything she had ever felt before other than Godric's command earlier.

She couldn't find a robe, or anything other than her towel, to go out into the bedroom in so she wrapped the towel around herself tightly, opened the door and found Godric lying in bed, totally naked, eyes closed, seemingly relaxing. "GODRIC!"

He opened his eyes and looked at her, "Yes my child?" He knew what she was going to say but wanted to see her reaction regardless.

"WHY are you naked!?"

"We'll be dead Sookie, nothing will happen. I am simply more comfortable this way."

"Well I would be more comfortable if you at least had on a pair of underwear!

Where is my suitcase please?"

He pointed to the chest at the foot of the bed. While she was busy rummaging for what she wanted he managed to put on some shorts, "Just for you my child although I can assure you it won't be long until you will sleep as naked as I normally do.

What are you getting so frustrated about?"

"My inability to find most of what I brought with me to Dallas! I didn't notice when I got dressed at the hotel but there are only a couple of dresses, a pair of underwear and a bra, no shoes, no soap or shampoo, nothing else which belongs to me. All that's really here is a bunch of file folders!

What is all thi..." She crumpled to the floor, dead to the world for the day.

He got up and put one of the t-shirts Eric had left there on her. Since he was so much taller it would fit her as a night shirt well enough. Once he had her on the bed he picked up the folders she had been holding as she died. He read them over as he sat on the bed beside his child. Wonder at what she had been was growing in equal amounts with the anger he felt toward the Louisiana Queen for what she had put the girl through in the last few months.

Apparently she had been part fairy, of the Sky Fae and related to the Prince at that.

She hadn't been old enough for her powers, if she were to develop any, to start showing. Other than the telepathy that is.

None of this must come to light. Other vampires must not learn of it or he would have a fight on his hands trying to keep their fangs out of her! It was suspected that fairy blood could enable a vampire to walk in the sun again. He thought it was all a load of rubbish but there was no accounting for the number of fools in the world, human and vampire!

He put the folders aside and lay down beside her, holding her to lend his comforting presence.

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**A/N: I have written the Eric memories because I always wondered what he was like as a young vampire and how he changed and grew the older he got so I let my imagination play with what it might have been like before the turn of the first millennium and on into the present day.**

**Thank you for reading :) and reviewing/favouriting.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I am floored by the reviews! I hoped such a novel concept would be well received but WOW! Six chapters and 63 reviews! I'm honoured!**

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It is time for another story my daughter. What would you like to hear today?

I will tell you of Eric's and my love for one another.

Vampire are not known for showing positive emotions. If you see emotion from a vampire it is most often negative like anger or jealousy.

Eric did not deal well with positive emotions. I suspect that even as a human he showed a stone cold exterior to all except those in his close inner circle of friends and family.

He struggled with love immensely. It took him nearly two hundred years to admit his love for me. He could show his love in various ways, most often doing as I wished without the command attached, but rarely could he verbalize it.

I loved him just as much as he loved me. I still love him even though he is no longer here to reciprocate it. We would do anything for each other. Many times he would feel I was in danger and come to me to end the threat before I could even raise my hand in defence. Even more times I would do the same for him, especially in the beginning.

His friendliness and stubbornness got him into more trouble more times than I can count but I was always there for him, at least until he came to the new world. Even after I came to join him I would still be there for him, and he for me. I regret I was not there for him in his final moments my beautiful Sookie.

I think you would have grown to love him, and protect him, as I did over his long life.

Godric's grief finally took hold of him and he let the tears fall. None were there to witness them other than his new child who was dead to the world for the day so he let them have their way.

He rose before dusk as he often did. After a bottle of synthetic blood he sat beside her and watched as dusk approached, anxiously awaiting her presence once again.

She rose as the sun dipped below the horizon and he first thing she saw was her Maker's sad smile. "Memories?" she asked. He simply nodded. "I am sorry he met his true death because of me Godric. I never wanted anyone to get hurt, especially because of me. I kept telling everyone I could take care of myself, I didn't need their help.

I want to hear about him, anything you wish to share, when you're ready to share it." Tears were leaking from her eyes now: The guilt she felt for causing the death of someone was soul crushing!

"Sookie, you did not cause his true death, you did not even contribute to it.

There is only one other way he would have rather gone than defending one he loved and that was defending one he loved with his sword in his hand."

"He didn't love me Godric! Most of the time we could barely stand one another!"

"We will continue this conversation after you feed. I can feel your hunger gnawing away at you. Do not ignore your hunger. It can make you dangerous to not only yourself but those around you as well."

She sighed. She did NOT like this having to constantly have blood! "When will I not need to have blood almost constantly? I don't like the one track mind, the lack of concentration on anything except what's immediately in front of me or the flightiness."

"It can take up to a week for a newborn to get to the point where their concentration levels are at a more level place and you're not feeding almost constantly. You will settle down Sookie, it will just take time and patience. Now get dressed."

As she took the clothes from her suitcase, "Godric, what were those files, why do I not remember even picking them up, what am I going to do about clothes? The questions are endless but since you mentioned it..."

He smiled, he knew what she wanted. "Come, let's go find what you require and I'll answer as we go.

Those files were things Bill had apparently researched about you. We will discuss that further once your concentration levels are up and you can sit still for more than thirty seconds.

You didn't pick the files up, I did. You died for the day.

A vampire doesn't get tired as a warning as a human does. We feel the position of the sun and moon. Other than our internal alarm system giving us a countdown until sun up there is nothing to warn us to get somewhere safe.

Clothes isn't a problem. For now you can wear Eric's shirts around the house, saving what you have for outside, and we can shop online. I'm sure Pam would be glad to send links for you rather than having to search for what you're looking for."

Sookie scoffed, "Pam? Do something nice for me? She hates me. She has since I turned down her advances and told her I wasn't in the mood for her lesbian weirdness!"

"Pam hates you?"

"She does. She's nicer to the fangbangers than she is to me and she's rude to them!"

"Why do you think she doesn't like you?"

"The only time she says anything to me is in the line of duty and even then it's as rude as she can make it without crossing over some line Eric must have imposed on her."

"Pam doesn't like anybody, Sookie. Other than Eric and myself I don't think she ever has."

Her attention shifted as she caught the scent of blood. Blood: The only thing she would be able to think about now until her hunger was sated. She followed the scent into an alley where they found two women. They were sitting on their stoop, pretending the alley was a more pleasant view than it really was when Sookie bore down on them, unknowingly capturing one in her gaze as Godric got the other. She sank her fangs into one and drank until Godric stopped her, forcing her compliance.

She stopped for a moment and thought about why Godric had made her stop. She hadn't been paying attention, she hadn't been listening to the heartbeat, instead paying attention to how she felt and her own needs above that of the one she was feeding from. If their food source was to continue to supply them their needs then they, the vampires, had to treat them at least with enough respect to know that they needed to be left alive to continue on with their lives, provide for them longer and have their own progeny to provide for them further down the line. If she continued not paying attention, killed someone, they wouldn't be able to provide for her, or anyone else, any more. They wouldn't be able to provide another in their line to provide for them either.

She nodded and stepped up to the second woman and looked her over. She might have been considered a looker once but life had been hard on her and it showed.

Sookie lowered her fangs and held her donor close, not too tight, licked the spot on her neck she wished to use and gently sank her fangs in. Once she started to drink she listened to the heartbeat, felt the pulse with her lips and stopped before she went too far.

"Very good child, only your second night and you stopped on your own. What was the pause between the two?"

"I was thinking about the story you told me about Eric's first punishment, about his draining people rather than feeding and glamouring them so they could continue on with their lives. I don't want to be punished for something which is avoidable and draining a human is avoidable."

"Sookie, I told you that while we were in the ground. I haven't told it to you yet while you were still coherent.

What else do you remember?"

"I remember you telling me about why you chose him, how much he loved to fight, his first flight and learning to fight midair, how much the two of you loved each other. I remember you crying because you miss him."

"Sookie, all of those were told while you were either dead in the ground or dead for the day. I have not told you any stories while you were alive for the night."

"Maybe it's one of my gifts? To remember things even though I'm not aware of hearing them?"

"That's possible although I have never heard of a gift manifesting while the soon to be vampire was still in the transformation stage. In fact most gifts don't become known for at least a year, giving the new vampire time to become accustomed to their new state before something else comes along."

"Godric, why have you not fed since I've known you?"

"I do not require as much blood any more, maybe once a week although I can go longer. I drained you the night I turned you so I have fed, you just haven't been witness to it yet."

"Would you share one with me? Please?"

"If that is your wish I will share with you."

"It is." She caught the scent again and was off and running in search of that which her existence now required above all else other than shelter for the day. She found him walking by the mouth of their alley. When she appeared suddenly in front of him he didn't even flinch.

"Are you willing to feed me?"

He smiled and nodded so she took hold of his arm and led him back to where she had fed from the two women, "This one Godric? Will you share this one with me please?"

He sighed, "Yes child, I will share your meal with you."

She heard the sigh, she could feel he was uncomfortable about something, just not what. The three of them sat on the porch the women had been sharing earlier with the man in the middle. Godric and Sookie each had a wrist and he was explaining the intricacies of feeding from someplace further from the heart, a place with small vessels. Once he felt she was ready he allowed her first taste then sank his own fangs in, taking only a sip or two, leaving the remaining sips to his young one.

Once again she stopped on her own so he let her feel the pride he felt in her through their bond, earning him a smile.

The rest of the night went as the previous night had with short lessons between feeding binges.


	8. Chapter 8

**_A/N: I am FLOORED by all the wonderful reviews. I can't believe others were just as interested in Eric's past as a vampire as I was!_**

**_I've had loads of fun writing this little story and am absolutely thrilled that everyone is enjoying it so much :D so thank you from the bottom of my heart!_**

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_Today, my child, I will tell you about your brother's capacity to love._

_He loved to have fun which never diminished as he grew older. He loved pranks and practical jokes and puns. If there was a way to twist a word or phrase into something new you can be certain he would find that way and much faster than you or I could._

_He would only pull the pranks on those he loved though, whether he could voice the emotion or not. If I couldn't see him I could be sure he would be setting up some elaborate scheme to make me laugh with pleasure or roar in anger. He was only ever punished for his pranks if they injured another, never for simply having fun in an innocent way._

_Eric was a big man with a big personality and his capacity to love was even bigger than his personality. Once you got past his defences and earned at least his respect it was very hard to lose it although once you did you would never get it back again, if you survived the loss in the first place. He had a large capacity for love but his capacity for revenge or defending those he loved was even bigger. If he had survived to see you as a vampire you can be sure he would have defended you fiercely. He would have fought WITH you just as fiercely._

_He dearly loved a good fight. If there was a war somewhere and he heard about it, especially in his younger days, you can be sure he would be trying to find a way to get to it before they finished so he could have his hand ._

_He didn't want the glory or the props, he wanted the sense of accomplishment that came from doing the job well. He changed in later years, hid his love from others, claimed he didn't know how or what it felt like. He became ashamed of his ability to love. There were only two that he would consistently show that he loved them: myself and his own child. Everyone else he told that vampires learned over the years to hide their emotions lest they become a liability._

_This isn't true though. I did not teach him to hide his emotions, I taught him to love with all he was, to let those he loved hear it from his own lips. Vampires do have a capacity to love for they love their children fiercely, would face the sun for them and defend them to the last._

_The greatest way he showed his love was his love of a good debate. He would argue with me until the sun rose. He didn't argue just to hear his own voice since he was a vampire of few words. He argued because he truly wanted to hear your opinion, wanted to hear your thoughts on any given subject. If you didn't know something he would either tell you or help you research it then debate it with you after, even if he had to play devil's advocate in order to do so._

_I feel he was growing to like you Sookie, so love wouldn't be far behind. He would argue with you, there were few he would do that with, fewer still if they were human since most humans, vampires as well, were scared to give him their true opinion on anything, afraid he would end them for daring to question him. He was enjoying the interactions with you even if they were few and you belonged to another._

_His love was all encompassing. I suppose that for a human it would have been smothering. If he decided he loved you there wasn't anything he wouldn't do for you. Mind you, if you betrayed him after he let you in, you would not survive your betrayal._

Godric sighed, picturing his eldest, seeing some of the heated battles of words the two of them probably had, the love that could have blossomed and changed both of them into better beings.

_Over the last few centuries he had hardened his heart. The only new being he let in was Pam. He loved her beyond all reason. He spoiled her._

_Sometimes I think I shouldn't have released him. He knew what he needed to know to survive on his own so he was ready physically and mentally but emotionally he wasn't. Perhaps he loved too deeply, deep enough that when he did lose a loved one it scarred him beyond anything we can comprehend._

_I missed him when he struck out on his own, came to the new world. The only way to communicate then was by regular mail or telegram. Those letters would make my night. They would be filled with bits of laughter and fun, things he had seen or done, other vampires he had met. He did love his existence. He looked for the good, at least until he came here. I still have those letters if you would like to see them sometime._

_I know you didn't see much of it but he was compassionate, always trying to keep others from harm, soothing away their fears, helping them when he could._

_The sun is taking me now my child. I will see you when you rise._

He didn't rest long, only a few hours but with the winter months approaching the days were getting shorter allowing for shorter rest periods. It still wasn't time for her to rise though so he filled a glass with blood for himself and completed what he could of her registration as a vampire with the humans and he did what he could to fill out the information for her new vampire identification. They had a week's grace period to get these things done. With this being her third rising they didn't have much time left to fill it out and send it in without having to face a hefty penalty if it were discovered that she was a vampire and hadn't registered.

He turned his chair and watched her, his youngest child. There was no need, really: Unless someone infiltrated their chamber while they were dead they were in no danger. Since vampires didn't flop around in their sleep, their chests didn't rise and fall with their breathing it wasn't very interesting but he enjoyed looking at her. He enjoyed her scent: so much like his own yet very much herself. She had the dry smell of the vampire but it was only a slight undertone to her own sunshine and honey.

She was lying there in her death the same way she had been when the sun had taken her from him for the day: curled up on her side, hair splayed across the pillow, a slight smile on her face.

The sun was almost down now, he could feel the bond sparking back to life as consciousness returned to her. There it was, flaring back to full. She was on her back now, watching him, taking in the air in the room, "why do I smell blood in here?" she asked.

"I have bottled and bagged stored down here. I had a glass while doing some paperwork and waiting for you to return to me for the night so I could complete the paperwork and send it in."

"What is bagged blood?"

"It is blood from the blood bank. We have an arrangement with them to buy any which is close to expiration and there are one or two which will take blood from those who can't donate to the general population so we don't take from those who may need it in a crisis."

"May I try some please?"

"Of course, what I have is yours as well." He showed her where it was stored and how to get the bag open and the contents into a glass. She repeated the process several times, noting how different the blood tasted, the difference in how it made her feel and was going to comment about the differences but Godric was on the phone so she left him to his phone call and explored the house a little bit. Since the sun had set the day chamber locks had disengaged so she could come and go at will so she did.

She found Eric's room with ease. His was the shower she had used that first night. She sat on the bed and looked around. Everything was big, just like him. The bed was a King. The floor to ceiling bookshelves along the walls were filled with books of every size and description. The television was the newest flat screen. His list of movies was impressive and it looked like he had watched most of them as well. She had just gotten up to check out the titles of the books when she felt a gentle tugging.

The tugging wasn't something she had ever felt before so her curiosity took her in the direction of the tug. She followed it back to the day chamber she shared with Godric who smiled when she reappeared in front of him.

"Well done Sookie. That was a Maker's call. I called you to me.

You have the slight scent of Eric. Were you in his room?"

"Yes. May I please read his books?"

"You may. Not all of them are in English though."

"Would you teach me the other languages so I can read them as well?"

He laughed heartily, the first since she had met him, "Of course I will. We can start later tonight. For now we have things to do.

You need to finish your registration as a vampire and for your new identification before we do anything else. I also need to go out and tend to Sheriff's business.

Since you aren't old enough yet to be left on your own you will be coming with me.

First though, after the registration, will be gorging you with blood. We will be around more than one or two humans tonight and I don't want you to suffer because of it."

He sat her down in the chair he had used earlier and watched as she filled out the rest of the information.

"Did you own your house or did you share with someone?" he asked.

"I used to live with my Gran but she died a few months ago. It's my inheritance."

Godric reached around her and pulled up another screen, "fill this one out then please. It is a list of all your assets so they can be transferred back into your name from your estate since they will register you as deceased once they receive the registration. This includes property such as the house and land it sits on, bank accounts, cars, everything." She huffed but filled out the information the best she could and sent that in as well.

"For now all your assets are frozen which means you can't access your bank accounts nor even legally enter your home without permission from any living descendants."

"The only one left is Jason. Jason! I was supposed to meet him for lunch the day after the bombing! Can I call him please?"

"You may but think carefully. Do you want your family and friends to know you are vampire now or do you wish to remain dead to them, start a new life somewhere else?"

"I at least want to let my brother know! He's all the family I have left now!

Sam and Tara won't take the news well at all. The others? I don't know how they will take it but I won't know if I don't tell them."

He handed her his phone and she placed her call.

"Hello?"

"Jason?"

"Sook? Is it really you?"

"Yeah, it's really me."

"I've just about turned Dallas upside down and inside out lookin' for you!"

"I am sorry Jason. A lot's happened. I need to talk to you in person. Can you meet me tonight?"

"Of course I can! Just tell me where and when and I'll be there!"

She looked at Godric, "I will send a car to the hotel to pick him up and have him brought to where we will be. Tell him to bring his bags. I have a place he can stay if he wishes."

"Jase, Godric'll send a car for you. Bring your bag since he has a place for you to stay if you still want to stay here."

"Why would I want to stay? Home's in Bon Temps, with you."

"A car'll be there soon Jase. Be ready."

"I will be. I do love you sis, even though I don't always show it."

"I know, I love you too.

I need to get ready now so I'll see you in a bit. Bye Jason."

"Bye Sook."

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**A/N: Will Sookie tell everyone else about becoming vampire? How will Jason take the news? Tune in next week: same Sookie time, same Sookie channel to find out!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: To my guest reviewer: I'm sorry you don't like memory lane but that's why I wrote this: I wanted to know what Eric was like as a young vampire. If I wonder about something I can bet others do as well so I wrote this.**

**I AM glad you're enjoying it, even if it is slow paced.**

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Gorging on blood was neither easy nor fun. It required drinking until you couldn't drink any more and then drinking more until you felt like you were going to burst from your own volume!

It had an unexpected side effect that, given her first few nights, even surprised Godric: Her libido shot through the roof!

She launched herself at him with more force and speed than expected, causing him to stumble back.

He held her still, or at least as still as possible, "I see your libido has finally caught up with you. This is how newborns usually are after they feed." She hung her head in shame, "Come Sookie, we will resolve this now so you can concentrate when we meet with your brother."

She dragged her feet as he led her back to the bedroom even though her whole being was shouting at her to take him, to let him take her, to let her new nature have its way.

"Sookie, this is nothing to be ashamed of. This is a normal reaction for a vampire after feeding, especially a newborn vampire. If anything your reaction the last few nights has been atypical."

"It's shameful though, wanting sex for the sake of having sex. It isn't right!" Even as she said the words she wanted to unsay them, take them back. She wanted him in her more than anything right then. It didn't even have to be Godric, anybody would do just so long as they helped her get rid of the ache that was starting because she was trying to control her urge.

She groaned as the ache increased. "Sookie, until you give into the urge the pain will remain, becoming stronger until you have no choice but to take someone. I would rather it be someone willing."

She finally looked up at him, "I would too Godric but it still isn't right, the sex just for the sake of having sex thing."

"Have you never had sex just for the fun of it? Just for the pleasure it can give you?"

"With someone I loved, yes."

"Do you not love me, at least a little bit, then?"

Her eyes widened, "I didn't mean it like that! Of course I love you but you're my Maker."

"In the vampire world there is no differentiation when it comes to sex. Sex within the bloodline is quite common. It is not frowned upon. The participants are not demeaned or slandered for having sex with one another."

With those words she finally let her last argument go and threw herself at him as she had wanted to do all along. He caught her, turned and landed on the bed with her in his arms.

She hadn't gotten dressed yet so it wasn't the work of a moment to divest her of Eric's shirt and himself of his pants. He didn't even have a chance to look at her before she was straddling him, positioning herself over him, lowering herself onto his erection and screaming with the relief that just having him in her gave.

Many orgasms later, for both of them, she was finally able to think straight and realized that her meeting with Jason was soon. After a quick shower together, which almost lost them more time, they were finally dressed and heading out the door.

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**A/N: I know, disappointingly short and lemon free :((. I'm having a hard time picturing the two of them together sexually in this instance. I'm thinking about doing some outtakes, as I did for Disclosure, so maybe by then I'll be able to write it *shrug*.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thank you all so much for the wonderful reviews!**

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They went to a bar the Dallas vampires owned, The Bat's Wing, where Jason was already waiting for them. Unfortunately he rushed Sookie when he saw her which almost got him pushed across the room by Godric.

Godric controlled himself, Sookie on the other hand almost had her hand around his throat and her fangs were already down before Godric was able to call her off. "JASON! Don't EVER rush at somebody in a vampire bar!" she yelled at him.

"Sook, why do you have fangs? You never had them before."

"Why do you think I have fangs? I'm a vampire now. That's why I wanted to meet you in person, to tell you."

"But why? How?"

"The how is fairly common knowledge. The why is because stuff happened the night I last talked to you. We were all almost killed in that bomb blast. Godric gave me the options and I chose to be a vampire.

The more important question, at least as far as I'm concerned, is what were you doing in the Fellowship in the first place?"

He looked away from her, ashamed, especially now that she was a vampire.

"Jason?"

He explained to her about what had happened while he was sitting in that jail cell, bored to tears, trying to figure out how he had gotten into such a bad spot and how to get out of it.

"Jason, you do realize not all vampires are as horrendous as he portrays them, right?"

"After seeing how they were that night? Yeah, I know. I don't know everything that went on but I know a good person, vamp or not, when I see one.

That was the biggest problem I had with you seeing a vampire Sook, that Compton! Something didn't sit right with me about him.

Godric? Yeah, him I like. That Eric guy? I could get to like him, too."

"Jason, unfortunately one of the Fellowship ended Eric that night. I think it was the one who detonated the bomb that night and, technically, ended me as well."

"Who? Luke? Yeah, I can see him doin' somethin' like that."

"How do you know who it was?"

"Sook, I heard them talkin after, heard him braggin' about endin' a vampire. When you told me Eric was ended I put two and two together and came up with his name."

"Oh.

How do you think folks back home'll take to me bein' a vampire?"

"I know a few who'll want to sharpen a stake and take it to you themselves. There's a few that won't but most of the town would have been happy to hear that you were ended in that bomb blast."

Godric could feel how upset her plainspoken brother had made her but she needed to hear the truth just as much as he did. He didn't know the people in Bon Temps, Sookie and her brother did.

"Even before Bill came to town some of them already had stakes in their trucks, right there on their gun racks, handy for just in case.

Sook, I know you want to keep your friends but it would be best if you stayed far away. I'll feel out Tara and Lafayette if ya want me to but I'm thinkin' that Tara'd be one of the first with a stake in her purse. After all the shit she's had in her life I can't say I blame her.

Lafayette might be about the only one who wouldn't really care.

All things considered Sook I'd say stay dead to the folks at home, give your friends a sense of closure. Let 'em hold their funeral and wake, get their grievin' and eatin' in.

I'll tell them mostly the truth, that you was killed when the place you were was bombed and no one could find you until it was too late to do anything about it."

_Godric?_

He raised an eyebrow at her. He had been wondering when she would try this.

_Yes?_

_Could you help him with his memory please? He believes what he's saying but folks back home, especially Tara, know him and will be able to tell that he's covering something up._

_Of course._

_Thank you!_

"Jason, Godric's going to help you with your story. Folks back home'll know you aren't telling the whole truth if he doesn't and they'll try to get the full story out of you."

"Whatever it takes to keep you safe Sook. If keepin' you safe means not rememberin' you're still alive I'll do it."

Godric finally spoke up, "You will still be able to remember she's walking this earth, you just won't be able to tell anyone. In a few weeks you'll be able to see her again, just not in Bon Temps."

"Okay, let's do this then."

"Look in my eyes then Jason." Once he had Jason's gaze he told the story, "Sookie was killed in the house that the Fellowship blew up in Dallas. You just came back from identifying her remains. She was so badly mangled you decided to have her cremated rather than put her friends through the torture of a closed casket.

You will remember that she's among the undead now but you will be unable to speak of it with any but Sookie and myself."

Jason nodded when he was through and looked her straight in the eye, "I love ya Sook, ya know it's gotta be this way, right?"

Red tears were streaming down her face and she was clutching to Godric like he was the last stable thing in her world: He probably was. "I know Jason, that doesn't mean I have to like it. I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too sis. Godric, please take care of her for me?"

"I will. She's my child now. I could no more harm her, or let harm befall her, than I could have harmed Eric."

"Okay then. Sook, my flight leaves soon. I need to get to the airport. Just remember I love you."

"Thank you Jason. I love you too."

Godric took her to his office in the back, one which was hardly used, to tend to business and let her grieve in private. There was no need to give the gawkers in the main bar anything more to talk about.

She sat in a chair in a corner by herself and he let her. This was a hard blow for her, not being able to return to her home. She wasn't the first vampire to be in this situation by any means but it had been a hard blow to all of them when they realized they couldn't go back to their former lives. At least she had Jason, even if she couldn't see him very often.

He arranged for an urn with some ashes in it to be delivered to Jason's address in Bon Temps and for repairs and modifications to be done to her house through Jason. Through him they would rent the place out. He also made arrangements for them to fly to Shreveport for a few days so he could wrap up Eric's affairs. He needed to reserve a house or two for them to use when in the area, transfer his investments to Pam and himself (Sookie too but she didn't need to know that right at this moment), declare him as legally having met the true death...there was a lot to do and there was a time frame for most of it.

After Shreveport they would be flying to Sweden and England so he could deal with Eric's holdings there. After that their time would be their own for he was resigning from being a Sheriff. He needed time to grieve and he had a new child to teach and protect.

Once he was done with his paperwork he took her to hunt and feed then home. Dawn was still a few hours away but he could feel her need to be alone and she wouldn't get that in such a public space.

Once they got home, just the thought brought fresh tears, she stripped and went to bed. She didn't even bother with a night shirt. She couldn't be reminded of anything from before just then.

He lay down behind her and pulled her to him and began his stories again.

_Tonight I will tell you about Eric's rising night and how he fought me over not being able to go back and say good-bye._

_As it was with you I could feel him when his rising started. First the rigour started loosening, freeing his body from its hold, then his senses returned to him, bringing him great pain. His hearing was so great that he could hear me whisper across an open field with a waterfall close by. His sense of smell was very sensitive too. For many years he worked as a tracker for the King of Finland once he had settled enough to not need me constantly._

_He rose and nearly doubled over in pain from the sounds of the birds and other animals in the forest I had buried us in._

_He was ravenous when he rose. It took twice what you consumed that night to sate him._

_When he finally realized he couldn't go back to his life he was angry! So angry! _

_He would only talk to me if he had to for several months. He was miserable, even after I removed him from the area. I did not find out until he started talking to me that his family had been killed shortly before I found him, he was King by right of ascension and had no heir to leave things to._

_He would argue with me to let him go back, to appoint someone in his stead but I could not let him go back. They would have stoned us, thrown garlic and garlic oil, silvered us, tried to behead us, anything to prevent us from taking them. He did not understand this at the time. _

_Years later we talked about it and he did understand why I couldn't let him near his people but at the time it was happening he was too emotionally involved to understand._

He could feel her relaxing as he talked.

"I know this is hard on you my child. Very hard, but it is the way it has to be if you wish to continue to survive. You will still be able to stay in contact with Jason, just not frequently."

He felt the dawn take her, her emotions had been just as hard on him even though she had hid them, at least externally, very well all things considered.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know, you're tired of reading stories of Eric since he's not an active part of this story. This is the last chapter with the epilogue coming in the next week or two then I'll probably take a couple of weeks off just to read and relax.**

**I do appreciate the reviews though, they help me learn to be a better writer and where I can stand to make improvements. Obviously some of you don't appreciate Eric's story as much as I do but that's okay :) because what truly matters is that I enjoyed writing this story. Having ya'll read and review is just icing on an already awesome chocolate fudge cake!**

**Enjoy!**

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He rose with a story to tell her the next night, a happy story to help them both feel better.

_Tonight I will tell you of Eric's first solo flight. It's a story he told me many years later, after he had gotten over his own humiliation._

_He had only been flying a few weeks at this point and I hadn't let him go off by himself, just in case he got into trouble._

_He defied me and took off one night while I was out tending to business._

_It seems my eldest child had taken off into the night, wanting to explore an area we hadn't been to yet and he knew that if he flew there and back he could make it home before dawn._

_I could feel he was nowhere near but I didn't think of his going off into the unexplored alone at the time for I would have paid good money to see this. I remember it happening to me as a young vampire and I know how it made me feel, especially since my own Maker was witness to it._

_It seems Eric had flown, unerringly, into a flock of birds going in the opposite direction! They pecked and clawed at him since he was an unknown entity in their air space! He said he was covered head to toe in their shit._

_When he returned he looked like he had been up to something, and he was soaked head to toe. When asked what he had been doing he told me exploring and left it at that._

_When I found out what had really happened I was angry he had defied me but my laughter won out. I could just picture him with beak and claw marks every where, covered in bird feces._

She rose to his laughter. A welcome sound considering the previous night.

She smiled at him, "I can't quite picture it because I didn't know him well enough but I am glad it brought laughter for me as I rose.

Thank you Godric, I know you're doing your best in a difficult situation. It can't be easy trying to grieve for someone you've known for so long while trying to take care of a new vampire."

"Actually your presence is helping me. I'm able to tell the stories, relive those years in my memory as I tell them. Helping you through the early days is helping me to focus on something other than my own grief."

"I'm glad then. If you had turned me for no other reason than that I'm glad.

I wish I had had you to help me through my grief when Gran was killed. I will tell you about her sometime.

Right now I can hear someone coming up the front walk and I need blood."

"You stay here. There is blood in the cooler."

He arrived at the door just as the doorbell sounded.

Pam was standing on the other side. She stalked in as if she owned the place, "where is the little bitch?"

"Who are you talking about Pamela. You will show me respect or the punishment you will receive will render your Maker's punishments to look like child's play!"

She turned to her Grand Sire angrily, "the bitch my Maker was smitten over, that's who!"

"I still don't know who you are talking about Pamela. A name would be helpful!"

"Sookie Stackhouse!"

"She is my child now. You will not touch her, you will not touch her brother or friends. Am I clear?"

"It's too late. I already tortured the bitch's brother for information. He would only tell me she had died in the bombing. That her remains were being cremated since she was so severely damaged.

I want her head Godric! She got my Maker killed!"

"She did no such thing! It was his own foolishness which got him killed! He sent her in there during the day to try to get information and rescue me. It was her that needed rescuing, which I did.

She deserves our praise and respect, not condemnation!

You will show her respect or you will remove yourself from my sight."

She left, stomping down the walkway, her heels echoing in the stillness of the night and sounding like a gun shot with each stomp: She was still just as angry as she had been when she arrived.

Godric went back down to their day chamber only to find Sookie crumpled on the floor of the shower, crying.

He climbed in with her and held her while she cried: rocking and crooning to her, letting her know he was there for her when she was ready.

Finally she was cried out but she was ravenous! She was all over the place physically and emotionally. She just couldn't settle down.

He knew she was too hungry to go hunting and the cooler was nearly empty before she fed earlier. He made a phone call.

Fifteen minutes later the doorbell sounded again.

She was still on the floor of the shower when he returned with two humans in tow. Neither was glamoured and both knew they were going to die. Just looking at the feral vampire on the floor of the shower stall would have told them that if they hadn't already been informed.

She attacked in a rush of fangs and wind, quickly draining both of the men in her need to refill her own severely depleted blood stores.

She looked at Godric when both men lay on the floor at her feet, dead, tears in her eyes again.

"Don't cry over the loss of their lives my child. I have an arrangement with the local penitentiary. When I require more blood than is available they will send as many as I require. They have life sentences and have signed waivers absolving us of any wrongdoing in their deaths. They preferred this over spending the rest of their lives in jail with no hope of parole."

"They knew they were going to die?"

"They did."

"They committed crimes so horrible they would never get out of jail again?"

"Yes."

"Alright then but I'm still hungry!"

"Can you control yourself enough to hunt or go to the bar?"

"I can," she said confidently as she looked down at the floor at the dead men lying there, "What about them?"

"We will take them back upstairs to the men who delivered them. They will be pronounced dead and their bodies handed over to their families for burial."

He picked one of them up and hoisted him over his shoulder and she followed suit. They deposited the corpses at the feet of their caretakers and went on their way.

Sookie did feel a little bit of guilt over draining the men and how she had gone about attacking them with absolutely no provocation.

"Godric, would you have tried to stop me from draining them if they had just been people on the street instead of lifetime inmates?"

"I would not."

"Why not if we're supposed to preserve human life so they can keep providing for us?"

"Sookie, when a vampire, especially one as young as you, is as feral as you were it is pointless to try to stop them when they're feeding. The pain it would have caused you to stop would have been relentless on both of us. There is a time and a place for killing humans and this was one of those times.

If I had replenished the blood supply in our day chamber I would have fed you that but I didn't. I am sorry for that."

"Why didn't you try to give me bottled?"

"The bottled is only good as a stopgap. It will do nothing when a vampire is as you were."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing.

Since you are still hungry we will go to the bar and you may try a bottle but you will still require two or three humans once you are finished it."

"It's like a snack to tide you over until meal time?"

"I suppose so.

Why were you crying anyway?"

"Pam."

"You heard our conversation then."

"I did. She tortured my brother Godric! Is he still alive even?

You've explained to me about it not being my fault but I still feel guilty over it.

Hey, we never did finish that conversation!"

"I'm sure Jason is still alive. She wouldn't have ended him just yet, not until she has you anyway."

"Why does she want me finally dead?"

"She thinks you are the reason Eric met his true death. Once she has calmed we will tell the story but she will not be receptive until then.

Meanwhile I will have your brother removed from her care as quickly as possible. We do have a little time. It will take her a couple of hours to get back to Shreveport no matter how she travels.

Do you remember my story about his love of arguing?"

"I do."

He didn't say anything while he let her think about what he had said, "you're saying he was arguing with me because he felt he could? He felt comfortable enough around me, even though it hadn't even been very long, to let me close enough to argue?"

"Yes. He may not have realized it but he was falling in love with you."

She snorted, a very unladylike sound if she ever heard one, "I find that hard to believe."

He looked at her, concern in his eyes, "that anyone could love you or that Eric could love you?"

"That anyone could love me. Only my Gran ever has, really."

"Your parents?"

"Were scared of me. My brother? The last few times we saw each other were really the first times he's ever said or showed it.

My friends? One's too angry at the world to love anybody, even herself. One just wants to get into my pants. Now that I'm a vampire neither one will want anything to do with me. The only one remaining is Lafayette and he might have, in a sisterly type of way."

"Why is it you feel you are so unloveable?"

"Telepath, remember? Things happened too fast for us to discuss it and we've been kind of busy the last few nights.

In a nutshell telepathy is a pain in my posterior. I can never, ever, turn it off completely. Something always gets through. Touching someone is even worse because then their thoughts come through loud and clear. Some people come in fuzzy, like a staticy radio station, others come in like it does when you're standing there talking to them.

That's why I liked being with vampires so much, they were the only ones I had ever found that I couldn't hear that way. Just a nice, big, silent void!"

"Can you still hear humans?"

That question stilled her, "I haven't heard anything since I rose! I never had to try before, it was just there. Is it gone? Can I finally be normal? Are my shields just stronger now so I can choose who to listen to?"

"We will test it at the bar tonight then."

She nodded as they walked in the door. The music was jamming, the humans were...well...human, the vampires were looking their deadliest and the bar was busy, in other words it was business as usual at the Bat's Wing.

He let her go to the bar herself to get her first bottle of synthetic blood then took her back into the office with him so he could complete any outstanding paperwork so that when they left for Shreveport there would be nothing left for the next Sheriff to tend to.

One swig, just one, was all she could handle of the bottled blood. She had never tasted anything so vile! "How do you drink this stuff on a regular basis? It's absolutely awful!"

"I do not drink it for the taste Sookie."

"Why drink it at all? I would rather do without for a couple of hours than try to

drink this swill!"

"I drink it for penitence."

"Penitence?"

"Yes. I have done many awful things in my life and I wish to atone for them."

"You wish to make yourself ill in order to repent?"

"It will not make me ill."

"Godric, I may be just a few nights old but I can see the difference in you from before you drained me and now. You look healthier and you somehow seem stronger. If a human could see that you were weak imagine how the vampires see you."

"Sookie, I did not wish to tell you this but I find I must.

I had handed myself over to the Fellowship hoping to both let them see we could live harmoniously and to let them end me.

I had grown tired of my existence. Every night seemed to be the same with maybe a new player once in awhile. Then you came along and taught me differently. There is still plenty left to see in this world, things even I haven't seen yet. I find I wish to see them with you. I have a feeling that even the things I have seen will seem different when seen through your eyes."

"You were going to let them end you? Godric, you don't need to do penitence in order to be forgiven. All you have to do is believe in God and ask for his forgiveness and it will be given to you, free of charge. He sent his son to this earth, and let him be killed, in order to take our sins upon himself so we could be washed clean of them.

God knew, right from the very beginning, that we would not be able to live up to his expectations. He knew Eve would lead Adam astray, that they would eat the forbidden fruit, he knew the evil that would come to be yet he still gave us free will so we could make our own choices: we could choose to walk the path of God or we could choose to walk the path of the devil but even if we chose evil we could still change our minds. Godric, all you have to do is ask him, on bended knee, for forgiveness and it's yours.

Nowhere in the Bible does it say anything about doing yourself harm in order to gain forgiveness. There is fasting but that's for a set period of time when you don't eat at all or only proscribed things. Please, no more of this starving yourself.

If you would like I will go to a church with you and you can ask for his forgiveness."

"How did one so young become so smart?" Tears were staining his cheeks yet he was smiling at her. She had given him hope that someday, when his end should come, he could be forgiven.


	12. Chapter 12 Epilogue

**A/N: Thank you all for the reviews, favourites and alerts! You're all awesome!**

**This is it: the final chapter.**

**I have other stories in the works and have two that I beta for-I the ice is writing letters to Hunter and kardamon is writing With Benefits. Both are WIPs and awesome stories! Check them out while you wait for me to decide what to write next if you like :).**

**Letters to Hunter: Sookie's introspective learnings about what she has done wrong in the last couple of years and writing her thoughts to Hunter so he doesn't make the same mistakes. It's more than this though: it's post DEA and has a plot, some of the usual characters and a couple of originals. What did the Cluviel Dor do to Sookie and how does she get out of another fine mess?**

**With Benefits: what happens when Sookie finds out on her own what Bill was up to and how does Eric Northman fit into those plans? If you speak/read Polish kardamon also has a couple of Polish stories posted: one of them involves Quinn but since I don't speak/read Polish I'm not in the know :(.**

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**Godric's POV**

My child, my Sookie, has done very well for herself in the years since that awful night in Dallas.

At first she was a typical vampire with one exception. The only time sexual lust actually hit was when she gorged. The rest of the time was when she wanted it, just for the fun of it, once she got over her notion that sex between two people had to be because they loved one another.

Pam. My Eric's child. She did try to make it on her own, to let go of her Maker's death. It took years, and many punishments for disrespect of both myself and my child, but Pam finally gave up and faced the sun. She loved Eric too much, she couldn't get over his death and she couldn't forgive Sookie for her perceived part in his death. Ten years, to the date, after he met his true death she met hers. We truly did try to help her see the truth but she was blind to it.

Jason. He never did fully recover from Pam's torture. Even ancient vampire blood could not undo some of what she had done to him. Both Sookie and Jason forgave her but he was never the same after. He wasn't able to go back to work after his time with her, she maimed him too badly so I diverted some of Eric's funds to him to help keep him in his house, pay for needed upgrades like a wheelchair ramp and a specialty vehicle designed for the handicapped.

He spent plenty of time in Europe with us. Essentially he was our human companion. He would take care of any of Sookie's day to day needs that he could and we would take care of his needs at night when we were able.

We did discuss the files Compton had placed in her suitcase and decided they would be destroyed, no copies would be retained and no mention would ever be made of it again unless she manifested fae powers, which she hasn't and it has been nearly three hundred years since she was turned.

Her gifts are still emerging. She is able to retain information even during le petite mort or when concentrating on other things as she guessed that first week. To this day she still remembers every word of the stories I told her during her transformation and after she died for the day. Every once in a while, even now, I will tell her a new story although she is just as happy to hear the old ones even though she's heard them many times by now.

Her telepathy did survive her change but she is now able to selectively listen. She can turn it off and on at will. Her telepathy is her greatest gift since no one knows about it. The only gift she has that anyone knows about is her gift for flight. She inherited that from me as I inherited it from my Maker although, to my knowledge, she didn't follow in her brother's footsteps and fly into a flock of birds. I still laugh about that over a millennia later!

Once I settled Eric's estate in Louisiana we went on to Europe and settled things there as well. We kept some of his properties worldwide and I transferred his investments to her and she has done brilliantly with them.

She has even started a not for profit to help orphaned vampires learn and find adoptive Makers.

The Reverend Newlin, I laugh about this whenever I think about it. He was given life in prison for his part in the deaths of vampires, the torture of humans who 'consorted' with vampires, several counts of rape or intent to rape or the knowledge of wrongdoing without reporting it. Several years after his appeal was denied the Sheriff in that area was in need of more blood than was available. Guess who was brought to her doorstep that night? Guess who was drained very, very slowly? Over several nights? Guess whose body was somehow 'misplaced' by his caretakers and never found?

We never did go back to the States. At first it was because Sookie wanted to stay gone until those she had known had lived their lives and passed on but by then she had come to love Europe, especially my homeland and Eric's. We split our time between Old Rome and Sweden for the most part. She still doesn't particularly enjoy the extreme cold of Sweden. She would rather face the rain of Italy or England than the snow and extreme cold.

I don't think she'll ever be out of questions! She is a very curious creature, always questioning things.

We have talked about that one out of place statement she made that night at the Fellowship church. The comment about Eric being there to rescue his Maker and sister. She never even knew she had called herself his sister.

At that moment she was horrified that he had been ended, that she had witnessed it, she wasn't thinking about her words. She remembers hearing me howl at the pain I felt at that moment. She remembers running forward and kneeling in his ashes. She remembers everything about that night except the words she spoke. She doesn't even remember the words she spoke in front of Newlin and they were some of the most impassioned I've ever heard.

We have come to the conclusion that her subconscious was speaking, that it truly had wished to know him: that she was meant to be vampire.

My Sookie, my wonderful, beautiful, willful and compassionate child has the world at her feet yet she chooses to stay with her Maker. She chooses to hear the stories of Eric, not as often now but she still enjoys listening to them and she still refuses to let me subsist on bottled blood. If I even think about it she threatens to go on a hunger strike, refusing all blood until I give in and feed as I should. I have offered to release her several times, always she refuses, says she wants to remain connected to me.

We have come across Compton from time to time, always in the presence of his Maker. It did take Sookie some time to get over how he left her but she understands, now, that a Maker's control is absolute, there is no grey area. He is allowed very few freedoms. The one conversation the two of them did have, more than a century ago, he told her that Lorena's gift is the rarest of them: she revoked his release once she realized he had fallen in love with a human. Normally once a child is released there is no way to undo it, she was able to revoke it and, according to sources, has refused to release him as long as Sookie is still among the undead.

She did go to a church with me and prayed with me, asking forgiveness for my sins. I felt a peace wash over me afterward, a peace that hasn't left me since that day. I know that when my time comes I will not be condemned to hell. I will be going to live in whatever passes for heaven and I will see my Eric there and maybe even my human family. We will wait patiently for the day when my Sookie joins us there.

FIN


End file.
